I am at a specific time in my life where I can feel within my spirit the Lord moving for His glory. I don't know exactly how to explain it other than there is a constant excitement to life. I am excited to step back and watch God work and be part of His plan and I am beginning to understand things in a way that I never have before...vague statements, hard to comprehend.
I believe for the first time I am starting to see how I fit into God's divine purpose for His church, this world and ultimately His glory. It almost seems astonishing to say that in a world that is plagued with determining God's will for our lives. We are constantly waiting on the "big plan" to be revealed and so we live waiting for the next step never assuming that the step we are on is part of the plan. I know this all too well because I lived it for years. "God when will I be able to get in on the game? What is my part in all of this? Where do I fit in to your grand scheme?" It is the worst kind of unsettled cycle and I believe it is one of the best tools that the enemy uses to keep us from being effective NOW... and then now turns into the rest of our lives...waiting on the next big thing...waiting on what God has for me.
Why? Because dishes and diapers and homework and bills don't seem like a very important part of God's grand design for my life or anyone else's for that matter! Because if it isn't big then it isn't of Him and I can't be effective if I'm not in front of thousands of people. Obscurity - that can't be from God can it? "Isn't that Joseph's son?" Isn't that the kid Jesus who was our neighbor and made our kitchen table? "What good ever came from Nazareth?" Born in a cave among the noise and waste of animals came the Savior of this world, God in human flesh, obscured from the sight of all the ones who were watching, waiting for something greater....
God has placed you and me where we are "for such a time as this". I have spheres of influence that he means for me to be impacting for His glory every day and so do you. First, to my family, namely my husband and children. They are my first "mission field". Second, to those within my church family. I am serving the Lord in a Christ-exalting, bible teaching church and there are women and children that I can minister to in that body of believers. Lastly, my places of employment are filled with people who need to hear the beautiful news of the gospel of Jesus. This is how God works! He is a missional God in that he uses us WHERE WE ARE to further the gospel and bring glory to His name. The people that we minister to here are no less important to Him than the people in the 1040 window or in Darfur or Algeria.
Then, this amazing cycle begins because the people that we impact and disciple begin to impact and disciple those in their spheres of influence. The point is that where we are and what we do cannot be a "flash in the pan". We witness through our words but more importantly through the testimony of our lives and our lives cannot be witnessed in a day or a week or maybe even a month. We labor with and serve and love the lost and the beauty of Christ as our treasure shines forth in our lives through time. I didn't know my husband or his heart in a week after meeting him but after 11 years I know him well. The same applies to our relationship with others. And this will require us to be transparent and vulnerable at times.
A slow, steady course of living our lives one day at a time right where the Lord has us for the purpose of His glory in us spilling over into those around us. Sanctification. For His Name's Sake. Simple. Obscure. Amazing.
